


Skeleton Me (Love Don't Cry)

by SecretSecret



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Adult Lawrusso, And tells stories, Characters in therapy, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff fluff and more fluff, Friendship, Fun, Halloween Costumes, Halloween LawRusso, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Johnny does Miguel's face paint, Karate boyfriends in love, M/M, Seriously might be too much fluff, they're doing their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27163906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretSecret/pseuds/SecretSecret
Summary: “You’re Poor Man.” Johnny chuckled, giving another incredulous look at the ill-fated old bedsheet, and heard Miguel’s self-deprecating sigh.Poor kid.Suddenly, the germ of an idea sprouted in Johnny’s mind. “Well, I can’t let you go out like that. We have a reputation to uphold.”“What do you suggest?”________Johnny helps Miguel do his makeup for the Halloween Dance.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence, Miguel Diaz & Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 16
Kudos: 112





	1. Skeleton Me

**Author's Note:**

> This is a scene I've been wishing they'd showed us from S1E3. SOMEONE had to do Miguel's Halloween Dance makeup!
> 
> The title comes from the song Skeletons by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (covered beautifully by Of Monsters and Men). I recommend listening to both versions.
> 
> There will be a LawRusso coda to this story, set in the future. Skip (eventual) Chapter 2 if that's not your thing.

_Halloween 2017_

“You’re Poor Man.” Johnny chuckled, giving another incredulous look at the ill-fated old bedsheet, and heard Miguel’s self-deprecating sigh. _Poor kid._

Suddenly, the germ of an idea sprouted in Johnny’s mind. “Well, I can’t let you go out like that. We have a reputation to uphold.”

“What do you suggest?”

___________________

“Uhh, Sensei? Where are we going?” Johnny had just missed the turn for the Reseda Heights apartment complex.

“Relax, kid. We need a few more things for your costume.”

“Yeah? So what is it, anyway? Something vintage and awesome?” They pulled into another strip mall, the car coming to rest outside of a pharmacy. Miguel’s brow creased in confusion. “And why a pharmacy, anyway?”

“I’m gonna ignore the fact that you just called me ‘vintage’ kid. And obviously it’s awesome, it’s the last Halloween costume I ever wore, and it was badass. Thing is, the clothes are only part of it. Come on.” He strode purposefully toward the store, Miguel bounding behind him with nervous energy. 

Miguel’s bafflement increased further when Johnny made a beeline for the cosmetics aisle. With practiced ease, he grabbed a pack of disposable makeup sponges, some cosmetic brushes, two black eyeliners, and a pack of makeup remover wipes. Before Miguel could formulate some quip about not realizing his sensei was into makeup (his brain had short-circuited a little), Johnny had turned on his heel and disappeared down some other aisle. 

He wasn’t in snack foods or cleaning supplies. Miguel backtracked, and spotted Johnny perusing the seasonal goods aisle. There among cheap Halloween decorations, plastic pumpkin candy buckets, and garlands of faux fall leaves, he was rummaging in a cardboard display box. “Ha!” he yelled, triumphantly, and produced a blister pack containing two cakes of face paint (one black, one white) from the bottom of the pile. He wheeled around and charged right past Miguel as he headed for the checkout line.

“Keep up, kid! We need all the time we can get, here!” 

___________________

“Come on, Diaz, it’s a bodysuit. It doesn’t take all day to put on.” Johnny paced outside his apartment’s bathroom door. “And you’d better be wearing clean underwear under there, otherwise you’re paying to have the thing cleaned.”

“Sensei, are you sure about this?” Miguel’s voice was muffled behind the bathroom door. “I feel kind of silly.”

“Siller than Poor Man?” Johnny smirked. In reply, the bathroom door opened and Miguel walked out.

“No, I guess not. But are you sure you know what you’re doing with this face paint thing? I feel like it could go wrong really easily.”

Johnny sighed, then motioned to a kitchen chair. “Sit.” He flipped on the light overhead, then methodically dipped a makeup sponge in the white face paint, and began blotting it all over Miguel’s face, from neck to hairline. 

“Diaz, let me tell you something. My buddy Tommy always came up with our group costumes, every year in high school. We’d always go together, and it was usually pretty awesome. Our senior year, I guess he was looking at a magazine article that was talking about monster stage makeup or something, I don’t know. He wanted to work in movies back then. There was this sweet photo of someone in skeleton makeup, all done by hand. It was awesome. We all bought the bodysuits, then got together at Tommy’s to get ready for the dance.” He paused for a second, filling in the last uncovered spots on Miguel’s face with white paint, then picked up the black eyeliner. 

“When we got there, Tommy had already done his makeup.” He paused, biting down on his bottom lip as he traced out irregular ovals around Miguel’s eyes. “Hold on, these need to be symmetric… _there_ .” He continued, dotting out a triangular shape around his student’s nose, and Miguel tried not to crinkle it. It _really_ tickled. “Diaz! Stop it. Do you want to look badass or not? Anyway, we got to Tommy’s and he was sitting there looking like some cut-rate black-and-white Mickey Mouse. It was a disaster. Here we were, the five coolest guys in the school, supposed to look scary as hell and our master makeup artist had himself looking like Steamboat Willie.” 

“What’s Steamboat Willie?”

“Cartoon for old people. Don’t raise your eyebrow at me, Diaz, I’m talking REALLY old people. That shit was in color by the time I was around.”

“So, what happened with your costumes? Did someone’s mom come and show you how to do makeup in the nick of time?” Miguel gave a crooked little smile.

“Stop smiling, Diaz. Do you want me to screw this up?” He outlined the area around Miguel’s mouth and began sketching out where the skeleton teeth would be. “No. Luckily Tommy still had that magazine article laying around, and at least he’d bought the right kind of paint. There were simple instructions, so I just followed them. Tried it on myself first, then I did all the other guys too. We did have to steal his sister’s new black eyeliner pencil, though. Lucky I remembered that detail.” As he spoke, the eyeliner he was using broke off. “Ahh shit. Same thing happened that night, and we didn’t have a sharpener to fix it. That’s why I bought a backup.” He whipped out the other eyeliner with a flourish, and finished up sketching out the teeth over Miguel’s mouth. “That’s the secret other motto of Cobra Kai: Always be prepared.”

“Isn’t that the Boy Scouts?”

“Shut up, Diaz.” Johnny took out a makeup brush and loaded it up with black face paint. 

“So...how did you guys look? Was it badass and scary?”

Johnny looked up from the cake of paint. “At first they had no faith in me. I remember my buddy Dutch teasing me while I did my own face, y'know, calling me a girl for knowing something about makeup, or whatever.” He saw disapproval in Miguel’s face. “Listen, we all had our moments back then. We were dumb kids, always just trying to be funny. Anyway, Tommy was still sulking about his Mickey Mouse face. I think Bobby and Jimmy just wanted to get to the dance, but once they saw mine finished, they got in line quick. And hell yeah it was badass. I can tell you at least two people still have nightmares about it.” He tried for a smirk, but failed, surprised by the guilt that came with remembering that night. He started filling in the little spaces between the teeth he’d sketched out, as though to ensure Miguel wouldn’t ask any further questions. When the teeth were done, he sat the brush down and went for a sponge.

“Do you have any photos? Of the costumes, I mean?” Johnny met Miguel’s eyes, then looked away.

“Nah. My friend Bobby might still have the one we took before leaving Tommy’s house. We didn’t all have cameras in our applephones back then. Come on, close your eyes. Almost done.” He filled in the black shapes around Miguel’s eyes and nose. 

“Is it done? Do I get to see yet?”

“Hold your horses. Almost there.” Johnny took a fresh sponge and a paper plate, and proceeded to mix a few shades of light grey. “Just a few details will really make it pop.”

Miguel watched his sensei’s face, set in deep concentration. Back when he joined Cobra Kai, he’d been ready for his teacher to be a hardass, and insensitive. None of that was a surprise. He’d also had complete faith that he’d learn a lot about karate from the guy. What was taking him off guard was how caring Sensei Lawrence could be. Miguel wondered if he knew that he was actually becoming a good mentor. That Miguel was starting to think of him as _family_.

Johnny finished the last touches and pulled back, satisfied. “Badass, Diaz. Go look.” Miguel got up from the kitchen chair and went to look in the bathroom mirror. 

“HOLY SHIT, it’s AWESOME!” He ran back out, and Johnny couldn’t hold back his own smile. “Sensei, you’re the BEST.”

“Okay, okay, cool it, kid. Hey, what time is it, anyway?”

“Oh shit! 8:30. The dance started a half hour ago!” Johnny herded his student out the door.

“Chill out. You’ll be fashionably late. Come on, let’s go. And don’t forget, you’re recruiting tonight.” 

“Sure thing, sensei.” Miguel took shotgun and fastened his seatbelt. “Hey, one more thing I don’t understand. How was it you knew so much about makeup and face paint? You don’t get this good after doing it one time in the 80s.”

“You ask too many questions.”

“Come on, sensei! You can tell me. Did you have an older sister who practiced makeup on you with all her friends? Were you into theater in middle school? What was it?”

“Story for another time, kid.”

Later, Johnny would notice the pack of makeup remover wipes, but wouldn’t have the courage to take them over to the apartment across the way. Carmen had made it clear he was no longer welcome. He’d just clutch them in his fist, hot tears falling silently as the picture of Miguel’s freshly-painted face was overwritten with blood and bruises. For now, though, he bantered back and forth with a student who was becoming more like a son, and turned the car key in the ignition.

The Firebird roared to life, and sped into the night.


	2. Love, Don't Cry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Thinking of Daniel suffering over those memories wasn’t something he could stand. He’d have to do what he could to help. Certainly they should discuss it some more, and maybe—
> 
> Johnny’s internal monologue halted. Maybe he could do even better than that.”
> 
> ______
> 
> Or, Johnny wants to atone for the past, and overwrite painful memories with beautiful ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a lot of world-building writing to flesh out the future AU in which this chapter takes place, with all the details of what happened post-S2 and how it all went down, and those parts made this little fic WAY too wordy. Basically, this Johnny got some help by starting to go to therapy regularly, which allowed him to heal his relationships. He and Daniel have joined forces as one dojo, taken Kreese down, and started a relationship, which is well established by the time this fic takes place. In this AU, Johnny was the one who encouraged Daniel to go to therapy, too, since he only wanted the relationship if they could be healthy about it. (Also I'm a firm believer that Daniel is probably the one of them who's more in denial about his feelings, actually.) The Johnny you’ll encounter below is kind of OOC (Daniel a little too, I guess), but I think it’s a plausible outcome, if they were to actually put in the work toward healing.
> 
> This is probably more than you all needed to know, but evidently I needed to know it before I could write this. Oh, and the Dr. Yan mentioned below is their therapist (who they see separately and regularly, another detail literally nobody asked for).
> 
> Honestly this chapter got way out of my control. But I like it.
> 
> As always, errors are my own, and this was hastily written and un-beta’d.

_A few days before Halloween, 2022_

Late on Saturday afternoon, Johnny’s phone pinged. He scanned the screen, then opened the text. A grin broke across his face, and his eyes filled with light.

_Hey sensei! Guess what I’m working on for tonight’s Halloween party?_

It was followed by a photo of some cosmetic supplies spread out on a tabletop. Johnny saw black and white face paint, makeup sponges and brushes, and two black eyeliners. He chuckled and started typing a reply.

_BADASS. dont forget the instructions i sent u_

_Don’t worry, I did a dry run a few nights ago._

Attached was a picture of Miguel in full skeleton makeup. It looked perfect, and Johnny’s grin widened. 

_Shit, man, u put me to shame_

_Guess you need to go back to Pumpkin Theatre for more practice?_

Johnny scoffed, but the grin remained plastered on his face.

_Watch it, Diaz. knew id regret telling u that story_

_Haha only kidding. For real, thanks for the video, and for the costume. Tonight will be great._

_Have fun. send photos_

_Sure thing. Tell Mr. L hi for me._

_Will do_

_Oh hold on, I got Bobby to send that photo u wanted to see_

Johnny opened his photos and found the one Bobby had recently texted him, of the original Cobras all ready for their Halloween dance in 1984. He texted it to Miguel, and the reply came almost instantaneously.

_HOLY SHIT!! This is amazing. My night is complete. Might as well stay home since nothing can top that photo._

_U get ur ass out there Diaz, and have a fun night_

_Dont do anything I wouldnt do_

_Don’t worry, sensei. I’m going with good friends. It will be great!_

_Have fun, talk soon_

Across the room, Daniel noticed. His hands stilled, and he set down the knife he’d been using to mince garlic. He wiped his hands on an apron and leaned his elbows on the kitchen island, content to spend a few moments drinking in the sight. The man he loves was sitting on the living room couch, situated in profile to Daniel, grinning like a kid at Christmas over his cell phone. The rays of the late afternoon sun were streaming through the windows, turning his blond hair to shining gold. Daniel’s eyes went soft, and he decided the marinade for their dinner could wait a few minutes longer.

Johnny was so absorbed in his texts that he didn’t hear Daniel come up behind him. He just felt two hands rest on his shoulders, massaging gently. Daniel dropped a kiss to the top of his head.

“What’s got you over here looking so happy?”

“It’s Diaz. He’s getting ready for some Halloween college party and he sent me some photos. He’s doing the skeleton.” Daniel’s hands stilled, and Johnny paused, swallowing roughly. 

“You sent him the bodysuit?” Daniel’s voice was a little strained, but Johnny could tell he was trying his best to let bygones be bygones, and show interest, so he let it pass.

“Yeah, mailed it out last week. Not like I could ever fit it again, eating your cooking every night.” He leaned over and gave Daniel a soft peck on the cheek. He was gratified to see a grin on his love’s face.

“Can I see the photos?” Daniel asked, dropping down to a kneel behind the couch, arms crossed under his chin. Johnny was pleased to hear that the strain had left his voice. He cared about Miguel too, after finally getting to know him, and Johnny knew he was happy the kid was doing well.

“Sure.” Johnny clicked through them slowly for Daniel, showing him Miguel’s setup and his dry run. 

“Wow, he did a good job with that.”

“I sent him video instructions.” 

“I’d like to see that,” Daniel grinned at him with a teasing tone.

“Hey, I was the head stage makeup artist at the Pumpkin Theatre when I was a kid. I’m pretty decent at this stuff.” Daniel’s eyebrows jumped up to his hairline.

“I have so many questions. You’re gonna have to tell me more _immediately_.”

“Story for another time, _LaRusso_ ,” Johnny deflected, using Daniel’s surname to say _I’m pretending to be annoyed, but I’ll tell you everything eventually._ He cleared his throat, deciding that maybe now was as good a time as any to clear out some old baggage, some stuff that was still haunting him. _See? Therapy works._ “W-when he asked to borrow the costume again, I told him I wasn’t sure. That first time he used it…that was a horrible night. Everything that happened to him was my fault. I know I was a new sensei, but that doesn’t excuse it. New students need to understand that their successes don’t automatically set them up to be Bruce Lee in a fight, and that’s the teacher’s job to show them.” He paused for a moment. “And, granted I didn’t know you’d be there that night, but...I’m sure that seeing it again was hard for you. Bad memories, and all that. I’m just—I’m so sorry.” 

Daniel’s eyes left the phone screen and met Johnny’s, which were brimming with regret and earnestness. “Don’t keep beating yourself up about that, or about any of it, Johnny. You already know what missteps you took, and you have worked so hard to make it right. I couldn’t be more proud of you.” 

Johnny’s eyes dropped to his lap. “At first I thought I’d have to give up everything about my fighting and teaching style, when we started working together.” He shook his head, and the corner of his mouth quirked up. “I’d never have believed back then that—that you’d make me better.” 

“Johnny—” Daniel tried to interrupt, but was stopped by Johnny’s hand on his arm, and a pair of blue eyes that caught his.

“You made me a better fighter, but you made me a better teacher, too. I almost lost it all. You gave it back, better than it was before.”

Daniel’s face was flushed. “You—you’ve said that already, John. It’s okay. You don’t have to—” 

“I _do_. I’ll say it every day for however long I’ve got. You’re the best damned thing to happen to me, Danny.” He turned slowly, knees on the couch cushions, and looked down at Daniel. He cupped his jaw with both hands and brought their foreheads together. Daniel’s hands met behind his head, fingers threading into impossibly blond hair, tugging gently. A small sound escaped Johnny’s throat, and Daniel swallowed it, their open mouths colliding, kissing slow and languid. Johnny kissed hungrily, like a starving man, and tenderly, like he held something precious. It made Daniel feel too powerful and too fragile, like a glass deity. He shuddered and pulled back, whispering roughly.

“John, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. And—and you saved me too, don’t forget. I was living so many lies back then, I just—” his eyes fell to the couch, and his earnest confession evaporated. Johnny watched as his flushed, glowing face turned ashen, then watched a mask slip into place over it. Daniel leaned back, gave his shoulder a little squeeze, and smiled weakly, standing up. “Just...you’re a good guy, John. I’m lucky.” The words echoed slightly hollow, and Daniel turned to go back to the kitchen. “I’d better finish up dinner or we won’t be eating until midnight.” 

Johnny’s eyes lowered. What had just happened? One minute, they were pouring out their hearts, and the next...gone. His brows knitted together and his gaze dropped to the couch cushions. 

His phone, carelessly tossed aside in favor of kissing Daniel, laid face-up on the couch.There on the screen was the photo from thirty-eight years before: he and the other Cobras, ready for Halloween, scowling like villains. He hadn’t been hiding it from Daniel, he just hadn’t intended to rub his face in it. They’d talked about that night, about all the bullying, in fact. That had been some of his homework for therapy. He thought they’d been in a really good place with it, but it seemed Daniel was still struggling. 

He’d have to bring it up again. Thinking of Daniel suffering over those memories wasn’t something he could stand. He’d have to do what he could to help. Certainly they should discuss it some more, and maybe—

Johnny’s internal monologue halted. Maybe he could do even better than that.

___________________

_Halloween 2022_

Daniel stepped into the door of the home he shared with Johnny, tired and aching. After the divorce, he’d lived for a while at Miyagi-Do, and it was comfortable enough. But then he’d joined forces with his former rival, combining their dojos into one entity with two foci, defense and offense, yin and yang, Miyagi-Kai. He’d purchased this home then, leaving more space at the dojo for the expansion of classes. Even better, this house had been free to become a space that belonged exclusively to him, and to Johnny. He sighed contentedly and closed the front door behind him.

Class that day had been fun, if exhausting. The Halloween tradition at the dojo was a game Johnny had devised a few years back, with Robby and Miguel’s help, called Zombie Apocalypse. The class would be divided into two teams, and they’d drill the blocks and defenses that would be most useful during a zombie attack (something Johnny insisted was “applicable real-world training”). Then the two teams would draw straws to see who would be the zombies, and who the defenders, while Daniel and Johnny refereed. Whichever team was left standing would be declared the winner, and split a huge candy stash and a gift certificate to what Johnny referred to as “that place where they get nachos since they can’t buy beer”.

Daniel was especially tired this year, since Johnny had skipped out on the end of class. He’d made some hand-wavy excuse about needing to get home to take care of something, and he’d been gone before Daniel could protest. 

Speaking of Johnny, where was he, anyway?

“Johnny?” Daniel called out, looking around. The house was dark. He heard no answer, so he dropped his workout bag in the foyer, took off his shoes, and turned toward the kitchen. As he stepped through the doorway, he caught his breath.

A trail of candles led past the kitchen island and through the living room, disappearing into the doorway on the other side. On any other night it would have him thinking romance right away, but it was Halloween, and he’d admit it was a little spooky. In a nice way. He walked toward the kitchen island, and saw an ice-cold martini sitting on the corner, with a little note card under it reading “take a sip”. He did, and brought it along as he followed the candles into the next room. 

They trailed through a short corridor, then made a sharp right turn, through the door to the back patio. Daniel stepped outside, and gave a little gasp. 

The trail of candles ended at the fire pit, where a delightful blaze roared. The patio table was set for two, and Daniel could see (and smell) some of their favorite foods from that Mexican place he liked up on Ventura. He realized how hungry he was, and walked over. Another note card sat on one of the two plates. “Take a seat, then turn me over,” it read. He sat, then read the back of the card. 

It just said, “Don’t turn around.”

“Johnny?” he called softly.

“I’m here, Danny.” His voice was low and soft, and sent a thrill through Daniel’s chest as it drifted from somewhere behind him. He didn’t turn.

“This is amazing, Johnny. Gotta admit, I was a little miffed when you disappeared on me before the end of class, but this is—”

“We need to talk about something,” Johnny interrupted gently. Daniel could hear his footsteps, right behind him now on the patio. Two familiar hands landed on his shoulders, rubbing soft circles there. Daniel’s eyes closed as he relaxed into the touch, and Johnny continued.

“ _I_ need to talk about something. The other night, when Miguel texted about his Halloween costume? I could feel you were a little uncomfortable with it, and then when you saw that old photo from Halloween ‘84, I could feel you withdrawing. Old memories can still hurt, even after we’ve processed them. Damn, I know that, if anyone does. But I felt like it made you afraid.” He paused and swallowed. “Afraid of _me_. Of me now, I mean, not just a memory of—back then.”

“Johnny, please don’t worry about it. I was just surprised, that’s—that’s all, really.” 

Johnny gave a deep sigh behind him, squeezing his shoulders still gently, but a little tighter. “Hey. We’ve talked about this, about how you hold back on what you’re feeling, trying to protect me from it, or however Dr. Yan put it. I really need you to be honest, Danny. I want us to face this.”

Daniel let out a long sigh. “I—” he paused, having trouble finding the words.

“Breathe, Danny. I’m right here.”

Daniel took a deep breath in, allowing it to clear his mind. He focused only on his breath, the way Mr. Miyagi had shown him, that way that brought him back to balance. With one last breath in and out, he opened his eyes and tried again. “I guess when I saw that photo, it brought me right back to that night. It made the memories feel fresh again. That wasn’t my first time being a little shit, or getting a beating, but I’d never been more scared. It’s not that I’m scared of you now. I know you, and I know how much you’ve worked to find your balance in the last few years. But when I feel transported back to that night, or any of those bad moments, I’m still afraid of who you were then.” 

Johnny’s fingers stroked Daniel’s shoulders gently. “Thank you for telling me. I understand what you mean. I’ve been there myself.” He stopped for just a moment before continuing. “You know already that I’m sorry for all of the bullying. I’m sorry for terrorizing you, and for hurting you. I _was_ my anger back then. You know that, and you know already that I have not and will not ever repeat that, or ever hurt you on purpose, for any reason.”

His hands left Daniel’s shoulders, and he straightened to standing, stepping back from Daniel’s chair. “What I’m offering now, if you’re up for it, is an exchange. For your part, I want you to open up to me when you feel like you felt a few days ago. Don’t hide it with a smile, or change the subject. Let me be there for you, in any way you’ll allow. Yell at me if you need to. Cry if you want. I want to be here for that. You don’t need to protect me from how you’re feeling.” He stopped, clearing his throat. 

“For my part, I want to offer you a new memory. I can’t take back what I did in the past, or...erase it, or whatever. I wish I could. But I _can_ give you something nice to remember instead. What’s that expression you use sometimes, from the old man? ‘ _Different but same_ ’?”

Daniel drew in a sharp breath. He’d connected some dots from the past few days, and had a good idea now why Johnny had asked him not to turn around. 

“If you’re not comfortable with it, tell me. I’ll go inside and be back out in a few, we’ll have a nice dinner, and no worries. But if you’re interested...turn around.”

Daniel felt a light rush of adrenaline. He took a second, remembering his therapist’s advice- _Notice what you’re feeling. Name it. Allow it._ He felt a slight anxiety, yes. Not out of the ordinary, but it was eclipsed by other feelings: _A_ _nticipation_ . _Curiosity_ . And _love_. So much love. He knew what he wanted, so he pushed back his chair, stood up, and turned around.

He had an idea what he’d see, but his jaw still dropped. 

It was Johnny, just Johnny, _his Johnny_ — standing there dressed like a normal night in, old jeans, t-shirt, and flannel thrown on top, rolled up to the elbows. His tousled blond hair caught the firelight with glints of orange and yellow. It was his face that made Daniel’s breath catch in his throat- because he looked _beautiful._

Johnny was in skull makeup again, as Daniel had suspected, but rather than the plain black nose hole and eye sockets of yesteryear, he was adorned with intricate designs across his features in black-and-white. Images of the Dia de los Muertos photos in his high school Spanish textbook flew through Daniel’s mind. A spiderweb pattern was traced over Johnny’s forehead, and the black eye sockets bloomed around their edges with flower petals. Delicate black spirals curled symmetrically around the rest of his face. Crucially, the blue eyes that stared back at him were open and vulnerable with no trace of anger. 

“John—” Daniel breathed, and closed the space between their bodies. His hand immediately went to trace the design, but he stopped short, afraid of smearing the paint. His eyes met Johnny’s, shining with more than firelight, and a tear slid down his face.

Johnny wiped it away with his thumb. “Hey, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want.”

“I do want. I want very much, I just. I’m overcome.” Daniel whispered. “Can I?” His eyes flicked to his fingers, still hovering near Johnny’s face.

“Yeah, you can touch it. The video tutorials Miguel sent to me were really useful. They make this stuff now called, like, setting spray, or someth—” Daniel wasted no time, caressing his face and kissing him soundly. Johnny folded him in a tight embrace, molding their bodies together, and drew back just long enough to ask, “I take it you like my idea?” 

“ _Like_ it?” Daniel gave a slow smile. “You’re a damned genius, Lawrence.” Johnny smirked then, and kissed him again, hot and deep on the mouth, then gently, above his left eyebrow. Gently again, on his left cheekbone. Again, a trail of kisses along the right side of his jaw. His fingers stroked lines along Daniel’s rib cage on both sides. Daniel shuddered. “You—you remember, where my injuries were? I never knew you noticed.”

“I couldn’t forget it. And I know I can’t fix it, but I won’t ever stop trying.” 

Daniel grumbled later on, when they had to reheat their dinner, something about how _chile relleno was never meant to be microwaved_ , but Johnny thought his chicken tacos tasted just fine.

___________________

_Soon comes rain_

_Dry your eyes_

_Frost or flame_

_Skeleton me_

_Fall asleep_

_Spin the sky_

_Skeleton me_

_Love, don’t cry_

___________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this! The title comes from the song “Skeletons” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (beautifully covered by Of Monsters and Men as well). Neither song lyrics nor characters belong to me. 
> 
> As always, your voices in the comments sustain me. Let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Couldn't resist that touch of angst at the end. I just love Johnny, Miguel, and their mentor/mentee relationship. They've both given each other so much. <3
> 
> This was hastily written and hastily posted, unbeta'd. Excuse the errors!


End file.
